Mystery Solved
by malachite157
Summary: - One slip-up is all it takes for a leader to lose everything... Fifth in the 'Losing Face' series.
1. Default Chapter

**Mystery Solved**

**By:** Sapphire (aka Malachite157)

**PG 13** (Violence)

_**Writer's Note: ** Heed the age restriction. _

* * *

Tarantulas entered the Darkside in a hurry. He didn't mean to look rushed and flustered when he entered the control room, but he couldn't help but feel nervous knowing that Rampage was coming up behind him.

Megatron glanced at him briefly upon his entrance. "Go to the storage room. Inferno's there and most probably has your parts lumped together by now. You can help him find the last few and then take what's yours."

The Predacon leader turned back to his computers and stared at a map, seemingly fixed on the forest that bordered near the Ark. Tarantulas wasted no time and headed directly for the storage room. When he got there, he found Inferno beside a crate with all his desired parts packed neatly within. The ant was looking at a list on a pad when the spider entered.

"The Royalty alerted me just a moment ago that these were for you," Inferno stated. He gestured at the crate. "All but one item are in there. I just need to find the---"

Tarantulas snatched the pad from Inferno and scowled at the list. One item was high-lighted. It was the most important piece of equipment he needed, too.

"Have you searched for it?" Tarantulas asked irritably.

"I have looked everywhere. I don't think we have any left."

"You MUST do!" Tarantulas tossed the pad, which Inferno caught agilely. He began rummaging through storage crates.

"It's my job to look for it, and you have no authority to---"

"Idiotic ant! I've found it!" Tarantulas backed out from under a shelf and brought with him a complex piece of machinery, the use of which Inferno was not sure. He'd only had a vague idea what the thing looked like and seeing as this was a particularly rusty, dirty one he wasn't surprised he'd missed it.

"Fine, then put it in your crate and be gone, traitor to the colony!" Inferno snapped.

Tarantulas snorted haughtily and did just that. He made sure he closed the door behind him even though he knew Inferno was following him out.

Megatron eyed Waspinator and Quickstrike as they holstered their weapons and wrapped belts of ammo across their shoulders. Both looked set for some heavy-duty fighting, and that's what Megatron wanted to see.

Tarantulas walked into the control room with the crate held with some difficulty in front of him.

"Leaving so soon? I was hoping you'd join us for the party we're having at the Maximals' today," Megatron said to the spider.

"No thanks, I have work to do," Tarantulas replied with false politeness. He knew Megatron knew that he was up to no good, and now that Tarantulas had his parts their alliance was officially over. He realized at that exact moment he was somewhat vulnerable and so he stepped up his pace towards the exit. He nearly had a spark attack when Rampage appeared in front of him just as he was about to leave.

"Gah!" Tarantulas yelped and backtracked a few steps. Rampage glared at him venomously. His whole face seemed to darken, his optics had a wild and ferocious tint to them and his entire stance seemed hostile.

"I abhor you," Rampage stated lowly. Tarantulas quivered slightly.

"Let him pass, Rampage," Megatron ordered casually.

Rampage stepped aside but his hateful stare never left the spider as he cautiously circled around him and then scampered out. Rampage slowly turned to Megatron but the look of intense hatred never left his eyes.

Megatron shot a glance at his computer. "According to the timer I set when I ordered you back here, you've arrived precisely one second over ten cycles."

Rampage remained still, knowing exactly what Megatron was playing at. He was at his mercy and so he said and did nothing.

Unfortunately for him, Megatron was not in an amicable mood. He took out Rampage's spark and the crab tensed. "A deal is a deal," Megatron lilted and squeezed the spark cage in his hand.

Rampage crumbled to his knees letting out a guttural cry of pain. Waspinator shifted uncomfortably as the behemoth of a transformer was reduced to a beaten slave. Rampage barley managed to keep on his knees and he refused to give Megatron the satisfaction of seeing him curled up on the floor. Finally, Megatron stopped and Rampage slowly pulled himself up, hurting, seething and humiliated.

"Don't defy me again," Megatron warned. He glared at Rampage a few seconds longer before putting the spark cage back into subspace and turning to his troops. Inferno had since entered the room and was standing to attention beside Quickstrike.

"Now that we're all together, I'm going to explain what's to be done today." He paused to hit a button on the computer and a few moments later an unmanned hoverpad came floating down in front of him from the ceiling. It hovered at his midsection and upon it was something large, hidden beneath material.

"I have here the instrument that will turn the tide of this war against the Maximals," Megatron proclaimed confidently. "I will need all of you to play parts in luring out and distracting the Maximals while I execute the most essential part of the plan...with this!"

He removed the cover with a flourish and revealed the weapon. Waspinator buzzed slightly and Quickstrike let slip a small exclamation.

"That's sure one big weapon, bossbot!"

"What an astute observation, Quickstrike," Megatron snickered sarcastically. "But it is far more than just big, I assure you. It is extremely powerful and with it I..._we_ Predacons shall annihilate our enemies. Today we will move out and you will draw the Maximals out as if it were a normal attack. I'll remain hidden until I pick the right moment to strike."

"What weapon do?" Waspinator asked curiously.

"It kills, Waspinator. Just like a weapon is supposed to," Megatron said bluntly. He dismissed any more questions with a wave of his hand. "We're going to attack today. Rampage will blast open the Ark's doors to draw out the initial retaliation. When the Maximals emerge to defend their base, you will break cover and attack. When I'm sure they're occupied, I'll make my move. Are we all clear?"

The three of them nodded while Rampage merely grunted softly.

"Good," Megatron said and he lifted the gun. His arms sagged a little under the weight and he secretly wished he didn't have to carry it the whole journey, but he thought it better for his image that he be the only one to handle the weapon.

"Won't they pick us up on their scanners?" Rampage asked, not bothering to hide the condescension in his voice.

"Usually, yes, but I have prepared for such a hindrance. Inferno has discreetly built and hidden a jamming station in a nearby forest. It is not yet active. When we are closing in I'll send a signal to the station and it will switch on, effectively masking us from their scanners for the remainder of our journey."

Inferno grinned. He was proud to have accomplished such a task without being discovered by the Maximals.

"I want to leave now, so we'll be there in time for the changing of the guard. The Maximals tend to change sentry at a certain time of day and that's when they're most vulnerable."

No on argued with Megatron's demand and so the five of them left the base. A short way into their journey, Rampage fell back and hinted at Waspinator to do the same. The crab knew that his moment was nigh, and he needed to instruct the wasp on what to do.

* * *

Myst had passed out somewhere along the short journey to the Maximal base. It was a mere two hundred meters, so she must have fallen into stasis lock pretty soon after she'd been passed onto Depth Charge. The energon corruption came back with a vengeance. Each time it seemed to bite harder.

She awoke lying on some kind of metal table. She felt cold, numb and nauseas. There was something hard and foreign sticking into her aching chest. The pain wasn't excruciating, but it was sore enough for her to feel uncomfortable.

She opened her eyes groggily and found herself staring up at a vaguely familiar face. The face was frowning.

"Sleepin' beauty's come to, I see," he said in an accent. She remembered him then as the bot who'd grabbed her when she was running from the fight at the energon mine. She immediately regretted waking up.

"Where...?" she whispered hoarsely. She cleared her throat. "Where am I, exactly?"

The scowling face disappeared as the bot leaning over her moved out of sight. He stayed in the room, however, as he spoke to her. "You're where you wanted ta be. On a lab table hooked up to some life support. Rhinox kindly didn't just stick you in da CR chamber. He put together somethin' more complex dat would sustain you better."

Myst grappled with the garbled thoughts and flickers of memories racing through her head. She felt very sleepy and dazed but something was nagging at her to stay awake. A sense of insecurity, perhaps? Yes, that was it. But why should she feel unsafe here? She was in a Maximal base, after all. What could be dangerous about---

_**Maximal** lab tables were where Rampage was tortured! Bet HE didn't feel safe in a Maximal establishment surrounded by scientists! _

The sudden thought made her sit up quickly. A computer beeped in protest and the Maximal bot was at her side in an instant. He pushed her forcefully but gently back down.

"Don't do that. You need ta stay still an' conserve yer energy. Dat is what dis is all about, after all. You do any activity dat draws on your energon reserves, you're only gonna shock yerself further."

Myst glared up at the bot still holding her down and he returned the glare. "What's sticking into my chest?" she asked gruffly.

Rattrap snorted and let go of her. "Constant feed of repair nanites. Dey'll ward off da systems deterioration fer a while, before dey get overwhelmed. You bettah hope your _friend_ gets you back your converter in a few days, or you're as good as scrap."

Myst's optics dimmed slightly. Oh, yes, that was where he'd gone; to get his spark back and then her converter. Why did that fill her with a sense of dread?

"Y' know---" the bot began, but he was interrupted by another familiar voice from out of her sight.

"She's awake!"

The little bot with the accent glowered at someone. "Yeah, so?"

"So shove off, I want to talk to her."

"You're a real slagheap, 'Charge. You aught ta learn some manners--urk!"

Suddenly a great purple arm pushed the angered bot out of view and Depth Charge took his place. He too glared down at Myst.

"You're a fine one to talk, mouse," he muttered absently while he leaned over Myst. "Get out, I want some alone time with her."

"I'm gonna call Optimus, fish head. He wanted ta talk to her too an' he said soon as she woke up I was to alert him."

Depth Charge's head snapped up and he glared balefully at the offending bot. "Yeah? Well you didn't look like you were doing that when I walked in!"

The 'mouse' cursed colourfully and stormed out. Depth Charge made sure he was gone before he turned his focus back to Myst.

For a long time he just stared down at her, optics narrowed with both a curious and contemptuous look on his face. Myst was just about to inform him of how rude it was to stare, when he spoke: "It's not surprising that, after having affiliated yourself with Rampage, you've ended up desperate and dying."

Myst did not take that well. "Rampage didn't do _ anything _ to hurt me. Tarantulas did this!" she almost snarled.

"Really," Depth Charge replied flatly. He nodded slowly, averting his gaze as he thought. After a few seconds, he refocused on her. "So what exactly WAS he doing to you?"

Myst regarded the mantabot coldly. "He protected me."

Depth Charge snorted mockingly. "Good job he did of that!"

"It wasn't his fault!" she leapt to Rampage's defence.

Depth Charge glanced to the heavens and threw his hands up. "I can't believe this!"

Myst bit back the venomous words she was about to spit at him and settled for asking what he was so surprised about.

"I can't believe he actually managed to manipulate you into believing HE was a good guy. That he really, truly gave a damn about you. That sadistic freak..."

"What IS your problem?" Myst asked vehemently. The anger seemed to intensify the pain in her and a brief but noticeable wave of energy shot through her. She ignored it and continued. "Just because you failed at your job of keeping him in a torture chamber doesn't give you the right to judge him! You don't even know him!"

Depth Charge looked back at her sharply and Myst nearly gasped at the bright fury in his eyes. He had a wild look about him, somehow even more disturbing than the one Rampage got once in a while.

"Is that what he told you?" he asked, voice a pitch higher than normal, but soft.

"What?" she asked breathlessly.

"Is THAT what he told you?" he pressed. "That I... failed...to keep him in a torture chamber?"

"Yes, you hate-driven loony! Yes! I know what you...you _Maximals_ did to him on Omicron!" Myst almost faltered at the end of her sentence. As soon as she had come to the word 'Omicron' a sudden, heavy sense of dread and nausea gripped her. She wasn't sure why, but the word conjured up deeply unpleasant feelings inside her.

Depth Charge stared at her incredulously in a moment of tense silence. Then a dark, gruff chuckle escaped him. He pulled back and away from her and shook his head, laughing sardonically. "Oh, oh you silly, deceived femme..."

Myst had had enough of his games and she slammed her fist into the lab table, denting it. The noise stopped his bitter, mocking laughter and reeled in his attention.

"Listen, I'm SICK of you probing me like some kind of specimen. Will you leave me alone? You're making me feel worse!"

Depth Charge leaned forward, an icy cold look in his eyes. "You really think Rampage was the victim there, don't you?"

"He was** _ tortured_** for the first part of his life and then hunted ruthlessly for the rest of it. Yes, I think so," she replied sourly.

"And you think YOU know him better than I do?" he asked lowly.

Myst barely nodded, because she was beginning to feel quite uncertain. That look in his eyes coupled with the sheer volume of hatred emitting from him was making her think that she had in fact missed something.

Depth Charge leaned a little closer and blocked the overhead lights that had been shining dimly down on her. His silhouette made him look more menacing.

"Well, _Myst_," he began darkly, "I've got news for you..."

* * *

Inferno led the parade of Predacons, with Megatron following behind. Quickstrike was beside the tyrant and asking the occasional question about strategy as they sprang to mind. A little further back, Rampage rumbled onwards in tank mode and Waspinator buzzed alongside him in beast mode.

"Listen closely," Rampage said softly. Waspinator cautiously moved a little nearer to the crab. Rampage waited for Quickstrike to ask another question. He chose to speak to the bug only when Megatron was distracted.

"So we're coming down from the cliffs then?" Quickstrike asked.

Rampage took advantage. "Megatron's going to order me to attack the blast doors first, as you know," Rampage said to Waspinator.

"Yezz."

"I'm going to refuse to do that."

Both went silent when Megatron paused.

"--And _then_ you'll use the rocks and obelisks as cover," Megatron continued answering Quickstrike.

"He'll take out my spark," Rampage whispered. "When he does, shoot it from his hand."

At first Waspinator thought he may have misheard the crab, but when Rampage glanced up at him expectantly he realized he had indeed heard him correctly. It struck a chord of fear deep within the little Predacon. He knew what was being asked of him, what would happen, and he didn't like it one bit.

But then again, if he weighed up the pros and cons...

If Rampage got his spark back, he would most certainly destroy Megatron, and that was perfectly fine with Waspinator. It was what would happen after that that worried him. No doubt the crab would behave true to his name and there was no guarantee he'd spare Waspinator just because he helped him. The only person Waspinator figured Rampage wouldn't harm was Myst and if he could somehow stay with her then he'd feel safer.

"Where fuzor femme?" he asked tentatively.

The conversation between Megatron and Quickstrike ended and Rampage fell silent. Waspinator had to wait anxiously for four long cycles before Quickstrike piped up again.

"So after we destroy them Maxis, what're yer plans?"

"On life support with the Maximals. She's alive, but she won't be for long unless someone gives her back her power converter."

"That's what spiderbot took from her?" Waspinator gasped. Megatron's posture suddenly tensed and he glared over his shoulder.

"What was that, Waspinator?"

The small flyer's mouth hung open for a few moments as he desperately sought for some excuse.

"Waspinator wondering why spiderbot not here to help..." he stated uncertainly.

"Tarantulas has long since left my command. He doesn't have to do anything for us if he doesn't want to."

"Waspinator understands."

Megatron scowled at him curiously for a moment longer, then faced ahead again.

Rampage realized that he and Waspinator were now in a suspicious light in Megatron's eyes and decided that he would no longer risk talking to the bug.

"Just do it. Shoot it from his hand when he takes it out, and you'll survive the day," he growled and rolled forward at a quicker pace, leaving the startled and worried wasp-bot in his wake.

Waspinator stared after him, his mind a whir of thoughts and fears. He knew the consequences of such an action could be very dire. If his attempt to shoot the spark from Megatron's grip failed, there would be severe repercussions from both him _and_ Rampage. If it worked, there was nothing to stop the crab from killing him after he was done with Megatron.

But Myst was alive, and that meant the alliance between the three of them was still in tact. If Waspinator failed to do as he had promised, he'd lose Myst as an ally and he would most certainly be hunted and slaughtered by Rampage at a later stage for betraying that alliance. When it came down to it, every option was risky and the one he stood the best chance with was doing as he was told. Rampage might spare him if he lived up to his end of the deal and if Myst was alive, then, surely she'd make sure no harm came to him? Myst had been so kind as to help him in the first place, after all...

Waspinator made up his mind then and there and spent the rest of the journey bracing not for a fight, but for something far more terrifying.

* * *

Depth Charge had to restrain himself from yelling and breaking something as he told Myst the story of Rampage and Omicron. It was a very sensitive issue for him and he found recalling events to be extremely difficult. The emotions attached to them were what drove him to hunt the psychopath day after day, so intense was his hatred for him. However, he found some inner strength in him that allowed him to inform her fairly calmly.

"I was chief of security for the colony. I didn't know about X---Rampage. The laboratories were what Omicron was centred around. It was, first and foremost, a research facility. There were many bots living there, though. Not just scientists, but all the other guys needed to operate a colony. Security personnel, mechanics, technicians, youths in training at some of the smaller labs. It was very much populated and like myself, not everyone, in fact very _few_ knew about the Protoform X project. They were innocent."

Myst listened closely to Depth Charge, stubbornly refusing to acknowledge the slow but steady increase in pain in her body. The energon corruption was already starting to get the better of the repair nanites keeping her alive. She had a week at best on the life support, and about three or four days without it. Her concentration was fixed on what the bot hovering over her was saying. She wanted to trust Rampage, but she was not so naïve as to rule out the possibility that he could have lied to her. There had always been something amiss with him.

"One day, Rampage escaped the facility he was kept in," Depth Charge paused for a lengthy moment at the end of that sentence. Myst noted with intense curiosity how his whole posture seemed to slump and his eyes glazed over. There was so much pain coming from him and she realized that this was difficult for him to tell. It was that realization that heightened the sense of dread that had been hanging over her. Somehow at the back of her mind, she knew she was in for a very shocking revelation. And yet some distant, nagging voice in her head told her that she already knew what it would be.

"He..." Depth Charge looked away briefly, composing himself again. He turned back to looking down at her, but he failed to look her straight in the eyes. "He escaped and he killed all the scientists. Every last one. Then he...he massacred the rest of the population. He was so strong, the security bots were completely unprepared for him... Their weapons had no effect because he just kept self-repairing at this phenomenal rate it---"

His optics shut off completely and he drew in a deep, steady breath. "It was hopeless. They had no chance."

Myst's spark seemed to freeze in her chest. The air got caught in her throat and her entire body went numb. Depth Charge was not lying. As an empath she knew that. His emotions of pain and regret were far too acute for him to be fabricating this story. Not only that, but that nagging voice was no longer so distant. Vague memories of some 'disaster on Omicron' flickered in her mind and suddenly things started to fall into place. The shock still hit her with such force that she thought she would explode. Not long after, her emotions kicked in. In all the turmoil going on inside her head, Myst still managed to remain aware of what Depth Charge said next.

"I was the only survivor. I was trapped under a beam from the ceiling of the building I was in. I heard the screams and saw through a crack in the rubble just brief glances of the devastation. I saw a bot fall to the ground, chest torn open, mech fluid gushing out of his butchered systems. Slowly but surely the screams were cut short and the whole place fell into silence. X...X paused...he paused in front of the rubble I was under. I could see his legs...and I wondered then if he knew I was there. He lingered a moment and then he left. Now...now I know about his sixth sense and I know that he was aware of me. He left me deliberately. He left me to contend with the deaths of EVERYONE I was assigned to PROTECT!" Depth Charge nearly yelled the last few words.

Myst was frozen to the spot, eyes fixed on the large blue bot above her who was trembling from the gruesome memories he was reliving. She made no effort to block out the agony radiating from him. She let it mix with her own. Myst felt at that moment like her heart had been hit with a sledgehammer. There were no words to describe the horror, the betrayal and the guilt that wracked her in that moment.

"After that I vowed to hunt him down and bring him to justice," Depth Charge stated quietly. "But he didn't stop with Omicron. He hijacked a ship and went around to other colonies, hiding from me. There he killed others. He continued this pattern of murder for four years until I finally caught him. I brought him to the high council and asked he be destroyed. Instead they put him in a pod and gave him to Primal. He awoke here, and I tracked him down again."

Depth Charge knew there was nothing more to say. He had told her all that he knew Rampage had not, and now it was up to her to choose how to handle it. He couldn't help but gaze into her eyes for the first time since he'd begun his story. He was not surprised to see her optics were dimmed.

Myst battled to calm her nerves and her trembling spark. She fought to suppress the nausea and the desire to leap off the lab table and run screaming. She could not, however, block out the imposing presence of Depth Charge as he stared down at her, waiting for her reaction. She supposed he was looking for that sick kind of satisfaction one gets from saying "I told you so!". She wouldn't allow him that. He was not the only one who was a victim of Rampage now. She was too, and she had her own pain to deal with.

"Get out," she said quietly.

"What?"

"I said get out," she just managed to say calmly, but her voice had an edge of anger to it. She was on the verge of screaming.

"That's all? Aren't you even gonna---"

"Get out, get out, GET OUT!" she yelled and her optics relit in bright fury.

Depth Charge drew back, surprised and startled by her reaction. He hesitated a moment, then turned away from her and left the room.

Myst closed her eyes and allowed herself to breathe out a breath she felt she'd been holding for a century. She was dimly aware of approaching, running footsteps.

"Crimeny! What did fish head say to ya ta get you so riled up!"

Myst looked up at the bot who'd been hovering over her earlier. "Not you again," she groaned.

He stared at her for a few seconds and then shook his head. "My name's Rattrap, an' what on earth were you yellin' about?"

"Where's your leader? Optimus?" Myst asked suddenly.

"He's catchin' some shut-eye, why?"

"Wake him and bring him to me. I need to tell him something very important."

Rattrap frowned and continued to stare at her. "Just DO IT!" she snapped.

He left her and went off at a jog down the passageway, from what she could hear. Myst realized that she had made a terrible mistake and that she had put the lives of all these Maximals in jeopardy. She knew from the little bits she heard about Megatron from Rampage, that the Predacon leader was planning something big. It was something that had required her power converter, and it was something that required Rampage at yet another meeting. It was just a hunch at this moment, but it was one that was more than a little worrying: Myst thought that Megatron was about to launch a very strong attack against the Maximals, but that was not what concerned her. What concerned her was that Rampage would use the opportunity to claim back his spark...and if what the mantabot had said was true, and she didn't doubt that it was, every bot on this planet was in very serious danger.

* * *

With a sigh the scientist plunked down his heavy crate of goods. He slumped into his chair for a moment and stared thoughtfully at the contents. He had everything he needed but some of the parts were slightly damaged and rusted and he knew that he had to make sure all of them were in perfect working order before he installed them. If there was even a small glitch during take-off, the already shaky ship might malfunction completely and plunge straight back into the ocean. As it is the Nemesis's ignition controls were iffy and the thrusters a little more battered than Tarantulas was comfortable with.

It was a nuisance and a setback, but the spider would have to clean and repair each and every part he'd obtained from Megatron. He couldn't afford to take any more risks. It meant that the Nemesis would only be fully active in about a fortnight, but Tarantulas was in no great hurry.

He swivelled around in the control chair and accessed the ship's computers. They were all working now and had been set up to read the frequencies of the transmitters he had all over the planet. He tuned into a station of interest - the Maximal base. He knew Megatron would be there shortly and a massive fight would break out. He was curious to see how well his weapon worked in battle and what the Maximals would do in such a dire situation.

Deciding he would multi-task, the scientist picked up a part from his collection, fetched his tools and made himself comfortable in the huge Decepticon chair. There he worked on repairing and cleaning the part while he checked the monitors. There was nothing like combining entertainment and work. He would be enjoying himself and accomplishing something important at the same time. Tarantulas liked that idea very much.

* * *

"We're getting close. Inferno, if you please?"

The ant-bot promptly transmitted the signal to the jamming station using a small handheld device he'd been keeping with him in subspace.

The Predacons all stopped and waited for Inferno to declare them invisible and able to move again. "Royalty, the light is green. The jamming station is active and we are now hidden."

"Excellent," Megatron mused happily. He turned to his troops. "Now I want you all to be very quiet. No speaking! There may be scouts on patrol. We might not be able to detect them because the Maximals have signature blockers."

Everyone hushed and they continued through the rocky, dry landscape, skirting past the forest that hid the jamming station, before making their way towards the cliff edge that overlooked the clearing in front of the Ark.

When they were only seven hundred meters from the edge, Megatron motioned for them all to stop and hide. There were plenty of boulders and obelisks around to use as cover and each Predacon found a hiding spot. Megatron looked across the twenty meter distance between himself and Rampage and gestured with his hand that the crab come to him. Rampage complied without a fuss, because this was exactly what he was hoping for. Assuming the wasp did his job, soon it would all be over...

* * *

Optimus looked a little groggy when he entered the control room, but he wasted no time in getting to the bottom of Myst's demand for him.

"What's the matter?" he asked the weakened femmebot before him. Rattrap came up beside the Maximal leader, a constant frown on his face.

"As you know, Tarantulas took my power converter," Myst began with some difficulty. She scolded herself for letting her emotions get the better of her and dismissed them for the moment. She _had_ to focus. "He did so the same night Megatron held a big meeting. That's why Rampage was not around to protect me... Anyway, Megatron called another meeting earlier this morning. Now from what little I've gleaned from Rampage and because of the co-incidence of his being called in when it would suit Tarantulas perfectly, I think the two of them are working together. Megatron, or Tarantulas, needed my power converter for something, and I fear that something might be a...a..."

"A what?" Optimus pressed, a look of concern on his face.

"A weapon," Rattrap finished her thought. Myst nodded. "It makes sense," Rattrap went on. "All dem parts I saw... Megatron was buildin' somethin'. Maybe he needed a power converter ta finish it off."

Optimus mulled over this prospect for a moment before he spoke up. "And you say Megatron held two obviously very important meeting just hours apart?"

"Yes," Myst affirmed.

"Dat does NOT bode well," Rattrap said nervously.

"I think he's going to attack soon. Today, actually," Myst told them worriedly.

Rattrap glanced up at his leader unhappily. "What we gonna do, Pop Op?"

Before Optimus could reply, Myst cut in with some more information. "Wait... There's something else you should know."

Both of them immediately looked at her with intent curiosity. Myst shifted, uncomfortable with what she had to say next. "Waspinator and I are in an alliance. He's plotting against Megatron. If he's going to do anything to stop him, it'll be during the attack."

"Huh? Waspy?" Rattrap exclaimed incredulously.

"Shh," Optimus admonished, "Go on, Myst. Why and how would he do this?"

Myst wished she hadn't mentioned it, but she had worked herself into a corner now and she had to get out of it somehow. "I found him after one of your guys had shot him and left him for dead at the energon mine." Myst took some small pleasure in seeing the guilt flicker across both their faces. "The Predacons couldn't care less about him, especially Megatron. Rampage and I helped him back on his feet in exchange for his allegiance."

Myst paused. Now it was getting tricky. She had to warn the Maximals about Rampage's plot to get his spark back but if she let them know that she had been, at one point, a helper in that plan, they would find her repulsive. They might throw her out or worse... But then again, her defence was good. She hadn't known about Rampage at that time and what he was capable of with the rest of his spark. Her intentions had been to free a slave and help a friend.

"The thing is... Rampage and I were plotting a way to get his spark back from Megatron. We got Waspinator in on this in case we needed his help in the future. It was never made clear to him what he had to do, but I suspect by now he knows. The plan was---" Myst froze as she sensed an unexpected emotion. She tuned into it and realized what it was. Hatred. _Intense_ hatred. There was also anticipation and..._murderous_ rage...

It certainly wasn't coming from the bots in front of her and she was sure it was from none of the Maximals. Myst knew where this emotion was coming from. She recognised it, because she had spent so much time with the bearer. She also knew what it meant and what was about to happen.

"Oh no..." she trailed, panic rising inside of her.

"What? What is it?" Optimus asked, alarmed.

She looked up with wide eyes at the Maximal leader. "Brace your team. They're here!"

* * *

Rampage came up to Megatron and transformed to robot mode. The tyrant was crouched behind the obelisk, looking intent. He eased up to a standing position slowly, surveying the landscape over the edge of the obelisk. He shifted the weapon in his arms subconsciously as he was feeling on edge, nervous, excited and restless. Rampage could sense it all.

Megatron glanced over to Quickstrike and Inferno and waved his hand. The two bots left their hiding places and spread out, taking their attack positions. Waspinator remained put as he was going to be the aerial attack, while Quickstrike would attack from the left and Inferno the right, on the ground.

There was a very slight tremble to the pent-up sigh Megatron let out. He was alert and anxious. The moment he'd been building up for for the past few weeks had finally come. Without looking at him, he spoke to Rampage.

"I want you to go to the edge and fire into the blast doors."

Rampage had made sure he was a few paces away from Megatron, behind him. He knew Megatron was wary of taking out his spark box if he was too near for comfort and so he had made himself distant, but still within lunging range.

He remained still and waited for the inevitable angry response.

"Now, Rampage," Megatron demanded irritably.

Rampage snorted contemptuously and crossed his arms nonchalantly. "I'm so sick of you ordering me around. Why don't YOU do it? You've got a big enough gun, now."

Inside Rampage was seething. All the anger and loathing towards the bot in front of him he had pent up for the past few days. He'd always been forced to keep it suppressed because of that accursed cage Megatron had around his core-spark. However he could not reveal it now. He had to wait for the right moment, or else he'd ruin his opportunity. So he acted like he had always done in the past: cocky and stubborn.

"Don't try my patience, slave. Now is not the time nor the place," Megatron turned to look at him and it was very apparent he too was restraining himself from doing something violent...only Rampage didn't want him to restrain himself, not this time. This time he wanted Megatron to take out his tool of torture. He_ wanted_ Megatron to attempt to discipline him.

"You do it! Field test your stupid weapon."

"That would ruin my element of surprise. Blast it Rampage! Don't make this difficult for me _now_!" he hissed, trying to keep his voice low and his temper in check.

"I just don't understand why we should follow another one of your pathetic attempts to overthrow the Maximals. Especially after all your other plans have failed. Have you even thought this through? There are so many things that could go wrong..." he taunted and gave Megatron a very subtle hint, but he knew the tyrant was too enraged to pick up on it.

"That's it, you asked for it!" Megatron snarled. He propped the back of the gun against the rock with his right arm while he reached with his left for his subspace pocket, looking down at his side momentarily. Rampage tensed. He shot Waspinator an anxious glance and to his great relief the wasp nodded.

Megatron looked back up at the crab and held up the spark box. Rampage fixed his vision on it and braced himself for a lot of pain. It was partly an instinctive response brought on by all the times he'd been tortured that way, but it was mainly because he knew that when Waspinator shot his spark cage from out of Megatron's hand, it was going to hurt like the Pit.

"I'm sick of your constant defiance," Megatron spat. It was that very second before he squeezed the sparkcage that Waspinator chose to shoot.

Everything happened very quickly after that. Rampage lunged, Megatron instinctively jerked back his hand as it suffered a very painful sting and he dropped the cage. Rampage was a half a meter from the ground when he swung out his hand and grabbed the cage, even as charges of blue energy wracked his body and the pain seemed to constrict his insides. As soon as he hit the earth he rolled and leapt to his feet, stubbornly refusing to give into the pain the blast had caused him. Megatron stood holding his injured hand and stared in silent horror and shock at the sight before him. He was still confused as to what had happened, but the realization dawned upon him when he saw an almost equally horrified-looking Waspinator standing at a loss across from him. The wasp looked utterly terrified.

Rampage pocketed his newly acquired core-spark and took advantage of Megatron's complete surprise and charged forward. Megatron readjusted his gun into a firing position as quickly as he could and squeezed off one shot, but it was too late. By the time the blast was fired, Rampage had ploughed into him and the shot went into the sky.

The first thing Rampage did was throw all his weight behind a punch into Megatron's face. The Predacon's optics cracked and his face crumpled. The second punch completely shattered the left optic and further dented his face. Megatron, despite his already horrific injury, managed to fight back. Rampage wasn't much bigger than Megatron but he was much stronger. So it was in vain that the tyrant kneed him in the stomach and belted him across the side of his head. Rampage made no sign of even feeling the blows. He was so driven by his lust for Megatron's blood that he was numb to all other things, including his own injuries. The crabbot punched him a third time, then fastened his hands around his neck and stood up, taking Megatron with him. Megatron kicked furiously, gurgling in protest. His hands clawed at Rampage's vice-like grip around his throat, but Rampage would not stop.

This was all taking place surprisingly quietly behind the obelisk and so neither Quickstrike nor Inferno were aware of what was happening. However Waspinator's shot and the ensuing blast from Megatron's weapon raised suspicions as they weren't part of the plan. Inferno hesitated on what to do, having not been given any orders. Finally, he decided that the Royalty would not have deliberately jeopardised his own plans by firing two shots. He took to the air and stealthily headed for the obelisk he knew his leader was behind. Quickstrike too was drawn by the odd occurrence and started climbing back up the rock face to see what was going on.

Rampage tightened his grip around Megatron's throat and in one swift motion flung him up and then slammed him down into the ground, hard. The earth actually tremored with the impact and Megatron landed on his front, facedown. Rampage raised his leg and plunged his foot down onto the small of Megatron's back.

Megatron cried out and weakly clawed forward, trying to worm out from under the pressure of Rampage's foot.

"You have no idea how delicious your pain is," Rampage said darkly. He was savouring this moment. He had dreamed of it for so long and now he was finally realizing that dream.

Rampage let up his foot and Megatron spluttered, coughing up mech fluid and still trying and failing to crawl forward. Rampage kneeled beside him and placed a gentle but menacing hand on the back of Megatron's head. "I levelled an entire colony. One by one, I extinguished the lives of my own kind without a single regret. I killed bots twice as strong as you with little effort. I am a master of death."

He lowered his face so that he was inches from Megatron's right audio. "But you can rest assured, my ex-slave-driver, that you will not live long enough to rue the day you picked on _this_ psychopath."

Megatron spat blood and gargled a bit before he had cleared his throat enough to talk.

"Go..."

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Rampage asked in mock politeness.

"...to the Pit."

Rampage blinked slowly and then erupted into a fit of laughter. "Oh, oh-hoh! Me? Go to the Pit? Yes, very nice of you to wish that on me Mighty Megatron, but you've neglected one important detail!"

Megatron pressed his hands into the earth and heaved himself up, only to collapse again when his broken back gave way. He panted, consumed by the agony of his shattered body. He was damaged, but not damaged enough yet for stasis lock. Rampage had done that deliberately, saving the final blow for last and while he was still awake.

Rampage stood up and nudged his foot under Megatron's side. He kicked forward and rolled the broken bot onto his back. Megatron looked up at him through one barely-functional, shattered optic.

Rampage tilted his head thoughtfully as his gaze wandered over Megatron's chest and abdomen. His eyes finally rested on a spot and he smiled. "Unlike you..." He curled his hands up into fists. "I can't die."

Rampage plunged his right fist into Megatron's stomach so hard that it went straight through. He dropped to his knees beside the Predacon and inserted both hands into the hole he'd made, and he pulled in opposite directions, effectively reaming the wound.

Megatron's guttural cry rang out and Inferno, who had been flying towards his potion carefully and using the rocks as cover, threw caution to the wind and sped forward. He was there two seconds later and just in time to see Rampage rive Megatron's abdomen.

"How DARE you!" the ant erupted and drew his flame-thrower.

Rampage looked up, temporarily woken from his concentrated murdering. "Take him down, Waspinator!" Rampage hollered and turned back to Megatron.

Waspinator had been watching in morbid fascination as Megatron was reduced from a fearsome tyrant to a broken, battered hunk of metal on the ground. He has seen what Rampage was capable of firsthand and he felt sick to his stomach for what he had done. He also felt a sense of terror so great that he would do _ anything_ to remain in good stead with the maniac cleaving up Megatron. He looked across at Inferno, who had turned to face the wasp confusedly when Rampage had yelled his instruction.

Waspinator felt like a zombie, driven by fear, as he aimed his weapon and fired.

Rampage heard the shot and was content enough with the situation to return to his activity. Megatron had, however, drawn on some last spurt of strength and lifted his arm. He punched Rampage in the mouth. Rampage recoiled a little, unable to ignore the aching pain that coursed through his jaw. The crabbot's casual expression faded and was replaced with an ugly one that expressed his true feelings - bitter hatred.

"Enjoy this taste of your own foul medicine," Rampage growled. He split Megatron's abdomen asunder and tore out the protective panels that hid his spark. He stuck his right hand in and closed his fingers around Megatron's rapidly-pulsing spark. Then, he squeezed. He did so slowly, to draw out the suffering, the agony that he knew only too well.

Megatron's scream ended in a trailed moan as Rampage closed his hand around his life-source. "ISN'T it FUN to have your essence, you life-force SQUEEZED slowly in someone else's hands, HUH? Isn't it nice to feel like you're being asphyxiated from the inside out? Can you describe the pain that comes with it? CAN YOU?"

Megatron arched, optics shut, hands clawing at Rampage's arms. His internal computer was blaring warning messages, but they went unheeded by Rampage. He knew exactly what he was doing, because he had done it so many times before. And, he had felt it himself.

"No, Megatron," Rampage lowered his voice to a sadistic whisper. "YOU go to the PIT." He clenched his fist shut and extinguished the spark. Megatron's body went limp and his arms fell to his sides. Rampage thrust his hand deeper into his systems, felt for the fluid pump and tore it out. Mech fluid went everywhere and Rampage stood up, letting the blood dribble onto the floor and over the corpse at his feet. He stared at it, watching the silver fluid coat his fingers and splatter onto the body that once held it. He was mesmerized by it.

"NO!"

The cry of despair forced Rampage out of his trance and he looked to his right to see Inferno, battered and missing a chunk of his leg, but still fully active. Behind him lay Waspinator, charred and unconscious. The wasp had done his best, but he was ultimately a useless fighter against bots stronger than him.

"You...you have slain the Royalty! You shall burn for it!" Inferno yelled furiously and he followed up his declaration with a burst of flames. Rampage walked forward, right into the fire. He felt it scorch his metal, melt his synthetic crab shell-skin and burn him intensely. He also felt his body repairing itself as it was damaged. Now that he had both sparks, he was healing more rapidly. Even though his spark was not yet whole, he was still stronger. He felt it.

Rampage walked right up to Inferno, steeling himself against the painful burning on his chest, and swatted him. He threw so much strength into the movement that Inferno was sent flying ten meters before he crashed to the ground, skidded and came to a halt. Rampage was not in the mood for fighting him any further, so he dropped Megatron's fluid pump and reached for his own gun. He fired several shots at the antbot as he tried to get up and knocked him into stasis lock.

The silence that followed was eerie. Only the wind could be heard whipping the dry terrain around him. Rampage breathed deeply, trying to calm his excited nervous systems. That had felt more than good.

"Don't make any sudden moves."

Rampage turned around slowly to face the speaker. Standing beside Megatron's limp body was Quickstrike. The little bot had managed to heft up the large weapon and was aiming it at the crab.

"You're one sick lunatic, crabby," he said with feeling, and fired.

* * *


	2. Mystery Solved Part 2

**Mystery Solved**

**By:** Sapphire (aka Malachite157)

Part Two

_**Writer's Note: ** I'm not aware of any technical explanation for the funny little little machine Optimus used on Cheetor to wake him up in "Other Voices: Part One." After Tarantulas had knocked him out, Optimus held a silver piece of metal over Cheetor's chest which let off soft ringing noises. Cheetor came to. I'm taking this concept and calling it a 'reviver', a sort of defibrillator for Transformers. This will apply later in the fic._

* * *

In the time it took Rampage to destroy his oppressor, Optimus called together all his Maximals. Second to enter the control room was Silverbolt, from sentry duty. The fuzor looked shaken.

"I heard a terrible scream," he answered Optimus's questioning look.

Myst groaned miserably and Rhinox, Rattrap, Optimus and Silverbolt all turned to look at her in unison.

"Is she meant to be doin' dat?" Rattrap asked no one in particular.

"What's going on?" Silverbolt asked worriedly.

At that moment, Depth Charge and Cheetor entered, followed shortly by Blackarachnia.

"I'm not entirely sure..." Optimus directed the sentence at Myst. The femme's eyes were tightly shut and she was breathing raggedly.

"Has there been an attack?" Blackarachnia questioned.

Rhinox was at the computers checking for any signs of Predacons, as Optimus had asked. He was frowning at a reading on the screen. "Not that we know of, though I'm picking up some strange vibrations from outside."

Optimus was beside him in a second. "How close?"

Rattrap came up to the trembling fuzor on the lab table and cautiously touched her shoulder. "Myst?"

She suddenly jerked and gasped, eyes wide. "Primus, no!"

The room feel silent and everyone turned to look at her.

"What the PIT is going on here!" Depth Charge demanded.

"Tell us what's happenin'," Rattrap urged Myst, his frown replaced with a look of concern.

Myst blinked up at him, and several more faces appeared beside him. Optimus was looking stern and irritated. She owed him an explanation.

"I'm...I'm an empath, like Rampage," she stuttered.

Depth Charge let out a small gasp and took a step back, looking shocked and a little horrified.

"Something's wrong. It's Rampage...I can sense him and I think he's---ahh!" She sat straight up, staring blindly ahead. A pregnant silence followed and all could hear her whispered next few words.

"He-he's out... He's unconscious," she breathed. She looked at Optimus desperately. "Someone _has_ to see what' going on out there."

Optimus nodded slowly and averted his gaze as he thought the situation through. It could be a trap, but then again, Myst did seem genuinely concerned. The look of terror on her face sent chills through him. It was if she was witnessing something terrible that she couldn't quite explain.

"I'll go," Depth Charge said adamantly, interrupting Optimus's thoughts.

"Depth Charge, wait. You don't know what you're going into," Optimus cautioned. He was still uneasy with the situation and not sure if he trusted Myst yet.

"That's the point of checking it out, isn't it?" the mantabot retorted and he drew his gun and prepped it.

"According to Myst and Rattrap, Megatron could possibly have a very powerful weap---"

"Megatron's dead," Myst cut Optimus off. Her voice was flat and monotonous.

There followed a shocked silence. Myst's statement seemed to thicken the air and even though the news should have made them all feel better, none of them did. The silence was uneasy and it was Cheetor who broke it with the question on everyone's mind. "H-How d'you know that?"

Myst swallowed hard and eased back down onto the table, eyes wide with fear. "Rampage," she said simply, and knew she didn't need to say anymore than that. It was obvious what that meant.

"Right, then there's no immediate threat," Depth Charge grunted and walked towards the exit.

"You don't know that. Depth Charge!" Optimus called after him.

The ray-bot ignored his leader and opened the blast doors. He was greeted by an eerie silence. He narrowed his optics and stared out at the rocks ahead, then up along the cliffs. While to most the surroundings would have seemed peaceful, to a trained soldier like Depth Charge, there was something definitely inauspicious. He could feel it. It was too quiet, and the air seemed charged with energy.

He transformed to flight mode and glided up steadily, intently alert to any noises. When he rose above the cliff-line, he got a nasty shock.

The Predacons were there, but they weren't functional. Inferno lay battered in stasis lock, obviously having been on the receiving end of some heavy firepower. Not far from him lay a charred Waspinator. What Depth Charge saw next was what surprised him the most. Lying severely damaged and smouldering on the ground, was Rampage.

The ex-guardian swooped in to get a closer look and as he closed in, he spotted another body behind an obelisk. He drew in a sharp breath and fought the urge to retch. The body was a carcass, and it was the carcass of Megatron. The once strong, proud leader of the Predacons lay savaged on the ground with a wound that Depth Charge had witnessed too many times. He could tell by the gaping hole in his abdomen, and by the blood that had been trailed over the body from a ripped fluid pump, that this was the handiwork of Protoform X. It was obvious the crabbot has gotten hold of his core-spark from Megaton.

Only...Rampage was lying unconscious a few meters away. What could possibly have been powerful enough to stop him?

Depth Charge got his answer in the form of a shot of high-power laser fire soaring under him, a split second after he'd decided to climb altitude again.

"What the!" he uttered and veered left. Another blast just missed clipping his right wing and warnings blared from his internal computer. "You are in target lock. Warning! You are in target lock."

The first two shots had been fired line-of-sight, but the attacker had decided after two misses to rely on technology.

Depth Charge tore upwards, twisted in mid air and faced his enemy. He was shocked to see Quickstrike a quarter of a mile away, wielding a very large gun. The small bot was barely holding it up, which gave Depth Charge an advantage. He opened fire just as the gun shot a quick blast. His yellow power-disks collided with the blue flash and the resulting explosion sent the mantabot rolling awkwardly through the air and over the cliff. He was unable to regain steady flight, and ended up crashing into the clearing before the blast doors. He skidded and slammed against the left cliff wall.

"Hnrgh!"

He was still for a few moments, dazed and shaken. He'd suffered some painful backlash, and so a few things were probably rattling around inside of him, but ultimately his injuries were superficial. The point was, he was alive; his improvised plan had worked. His power-disks had intercepted what was an extremely strong shot of laser-fire.

With effort, Depth Charge transformed to robot mode. The blast doors opened behind him and Cheetor poked his head out cautiously.

"Uh, DC? Did you just...crash, into this clearing?"

Depth Charge lifted a wing tenderly and it sparked in protest. He glanced up at the cliffs nervously.

"Get back inside Cheetor."

"What's---"

"Get back in!"

Cheetor did as he was told and left the mantabot to scour the cliffs with his gaze. Depth Charge knew Quickstrike was a good distance away from the Ark at this present moment, and that the gun was too heavy for him to drag all the way here without taking a long time, but he was still wary nonetheless. He'd been greeted only by surprises since he'd stepped out here, and now he was prepared for anything.

He opened a comm. channel to the Ark. "Depth Charge to Optimus."

A pause, and then a frantic answer: "What just happened? The cams showed that you plummeted back here not half a cycle after you left!" Optimus exclaimed.

"I know. I was shot at by a very big weapon. And it wasn't Megatron firing it, either. That femme's right, he's dead, and Rampage is out cold. So are the rest of the Predacons, except for Quickstrike. He's the one who's got the weapon."

"Primus! Did _he_ take them all down?"

Depth Charge shook his head and turned towards where he knew the cameras were monitoring him. He looked directly at one. "No. Rampage definitely killed Megatron."

There was a stifled exclamation on the other end, and a distant "what!" from Rattrap.

"Listen Primal, we have two crises on our hands. One, Quickstrike has somehow gotten hold of one nasty piece of weaponry and two, Rampage has his spark back. No way he would have been able to kill Megatron otherwise."

Inside the base, the Maximals were all gathered around the monitors, watching and listening to Depth Charge giving his grim report. Optimus and Rhinox exchanged glances.

"How big is the weapon?" Optimus asked. It may have sounded a trivial question, but it wasn't, because Quickstrike was a very small bot.

"Nearly as big as Quickstrike. He's having problems manning it. He won't be able to drag it far. We need to stop him and destroy it before he thinks of something violent to do to us with it, or worse yet, one of the other Predacons - like Rampage - get to it."

"I don't wanna even think about what Rampage would do wid' dat gun," Rattrap commented unhappily.

"He doesn't need it," came a soft voice from behind them all. Rattrap and Optimus turned and looked at Myst.

"Someone needs to go after Quickstrike, I agree, but I think it's just as important that someone gets the other half of Rampage's spark while he is still unconscious. When he finishes self-repairing, you know what he'll do," she said.

Depth Charge had just managed to catch Myst's voice in the background. "She's right. I'll do it."

Myst shook her head immediately. "No way. It's far too risky. I'll do it. Rampage...I still believe Rampage won't hurt me. If he wakes while I'm taking it from him, he'll think twice before he lays a hand on me, but if he catches anyone else..." Myst trailed deliberately. Her words had their intended effect as Rattrap muttered uncomfortably and Blackarachnia and Silverbolt both shifted.

Optimus knew he didn't have time to debate this, and so he asked Myst just once for confirmation. "Are you sure you can handle it? You're very weak at the moment, and the mission is extremely dangerous," he informed her unnecessarily.

"You're not serious, Primal!" came Depth Charge's inevitable protest, but Rhinox cut the connection irritably. All focus was on the neutral femme getting up slowly, painfully, from the lab table.

"I can just about manage it," she assured. "Please, let me do this. I've spent a fair amount of time with Rampage and I promise you, he will not take kindly to anyone taking back his spark. As for me, I've got nothing to lose."

The Maximal leader nodded solemnly, then turned to Silverbolt and Cheetor.

"We need all our flyers. We'll launch an aerial attack on Quickstrike and overwhelm him. We hit him hard and fast. I don't want you to make any effort to spare the weapon. While it may be useful, it's far more a threat than an asset. Is that clear?"

Silverbolt saluted and Cheetor nodded adamantly. Optimus transformed to flight mode and soared out of the base, followed closely by Silverbolt and Cheetor.

"Be careful!" Blackarachnia called out after them. She watched the doors close with an ominous clang. Rhinox turned to face the remaining bots in the control room.

"Rattrap, do you mind giving Myst a lift to Rampage's position? I don't think she can fly or climb at the moment," he said.

Rattrap just stared at Rhinox for a few uneasy seconds, looking more serious than Rhinox had ever seen him, before he nodded softly. "Okay."

He turned to Myst and helped her off the table. She stood on unstable legs and leaned against him for support. "You just have to drive me to within a few meters of him. After that, you don't have to come any closer," she told him. Rattrap snorted. "Trust me, I won't!"

* * *

Tarantulas was more than a little surprised to see how events had unfolded. There had been no great battle between the Maximals and Predacons; no grand final showdown. What had occurred was however, in Tarantulas's opinion, for more entertaining. The sheer brutality of Rampage's execution of Megatron had made him feel the slightest bit uneasy, but it was nothing Tarantulas hadn't done himself, except he'd done it far slower and under controlled conditions.

Tarantulas had been riveted to the screen. From Rampage's attack to Depth Charge's forced retreat, the spider had been slowly polishing the same part. When a respite finally came after Depth Charge's disappearance over the cliffs, he snapped out of his trance and looked, with mild surprise, at a now very shiny thrusters chip.

He put the part aside and took another one from his crate. He started fixing some loose bits but his attention was not wholly on the job. He kept glancing at the screen, waiting to see what the Maximals did next.

"No doubt they'll attack that stupid fuzor, destroy my work of art and start panicking about what to do with Rampage," he muttered.

It occurred to him that if they did that, Myst would be doomed. Because unbeknownst to anyone except Megatron and himself...in fact, just himself, her power converter was what made that weapon work. What sweet irony it would be if Myst's saviours destroyed the very thing needed to keep her alive.

Tarantulas knew that Myst was with the Maximals. He had arachnoids watching things all over the place and he had seen Rampage hand the femme over to the enemy. It was a last-ditch effort to keep his plaything alive. Tarantulas found it mildly intriguing that Rampage seemed so bent on preserving Myst. The femmebot must have struck a chord with the psychopath that made him feel differently towards her than he did towards everyone else. Although, Tarantulas still suspected he toyed with her, just not physically. Myst would not have stayed with him this long if the crab had been upfront with her and told her all about who he was and what he'd done. Even if she didn't care for the lives he'd taken, she wouldn't have hung around for fear for her own life.

"How very complicated this has all become," the spider sighed happily. He was enjoying the pandemonium Rampage had caused. It was one of the few things the crab was good for.

"They needn't worry, though. When the Nemesis is up and running, I shall make things much simpler for them," he said and chuckled.

_Unless Rampage pulls an Omicron on them, and then what? If he was only a land-based bot, it wouldn't even be an issue. But the crab's an aquabot..._

Tarantulas failed to suppress a shudder at the thought. If no one got to Rampage before he self-repaired, then he'd be free to do as he pleased. As it stood, Tarantulas was very high on Rampage's list of future victims. He had more than ticked the killer off.

He instinctively glanced about himself nervously. He knew the crab was nowhere near, but the insecurity was there nonetheless.

"I have to keep a very, very close watch on him," the spider mumbled. He turned back to the screens and let loose a little exclamation.

Rampage was nearly fully-repaired already!

* * *

The gun was far heavier than Quickstrike imagined. It looked too big for him to carry, but he had tried to anyway. He hadn't gone far with it though, before his arms grew too weak to support it anymore and he had to drop it for a little rest. That short moment of relaxing his limbs cost him dearly.

Optimus paused in his flight to talk to Depth Charge. "We're going to flank Quickstrike's position from the air, and we could use your help."

"You can do it without me. I need to get to Rampage before---"

"Not now, Depth Charge. Just stop and think about it. Rampage is self-repairing as we speak with his full spark, and you're damaged. If you approach him and he wakes up, he will not hesitate to kill you this time, especially if you're after the thing that means the most to him."

"It's a risk I'm willing to take!"

"It's an unnecessary risk! Myst is going to do it. It's obvious Rampage has some sort of friendship with her, so her chances of getting hurt in all this are far less. And while I don't like to sound a pessimist, she's right; she really doesn't have a lot to lose. Now we don't have time to argue about this, so are you going to help us fight a currently more dangerous foe or not?"

Depth Charge was ready to protest further, but he managed to keep his cool for a change. He heard the blast doors opening again and Rattrap sped past him in vehicle mode, Myst on his back. He watched with a deep frown as the pair disappeared behind the labyrinth of rocks.

"Fine," he grudgingly conceded. He transformed back to flight mode and followed the trio of flyers out.

Quickstrike was uncomfortably aware that his time was limited. He'd battled to use the weapon on Rampage because it was so heavy, and firing at a target in the air was considerably more difficult. So when he saw four Maximal flyers breaking out into an attack formation, he knew that, despite the power he possessed at that moment, he was at a strategic disadvantage. He simply couldn't take them all on.

The alternative was to run with his hands up, and he didn't like the image of that in the slightest. He should at least _try_ to hold his ground...

Quickstrike decided that if he made a move towards picking the gun up now, all four of them would open fire and blow him to pieces. He was a fast shooter normally, but this was no ordinary gun.

"Well I ain't gonna give them the pleasure of using this beauty!" he declared as the Maximals honed in on his position. He quickly unclipped his ammunitions belt and dropped it over the gun. After that, he turned away from it and ran as fast as he could.

The move puzzled the Maximals, because Quickstrike was not one to retreat from a fight so readily.

"He's moving away! What do we do?" Cheetor asked Optimus over his comm.

"Don't pursue him. I think he's realized he's in no position to fight us all."

"He dropped something over the gun," Depth Charge voiced his observation.

"Shall I take a look?" Silverbolt offered.

"No, I don't think it's---" Optimus began, but a flash of green distracted him. He stared down at the weapon and saw that, from a considerable distance away, Quickstrike was firing at it. A second later, the ammunitions belt exploded.

"WHOA!" Cheetor exclaimed and pulled up. The blast cloud quickly caught up with him and knocked him back.

Optimus was the next closest to the explosion but he managed to bear the brunt of it better.

Fortunately Depth Charge and Silverbolt were high enough not to be affected by it. Silverbolt dove towards Cheetor to help him regain some kind of momentum, as he was rolling through the air.

"Primus above! That freak just took out the weapon himself!" Depth Charge yelled.

"Not quite," Optimus grunted, feeling sore and hot from the blast. He zoomed his vision in on the sight of the explosion. The cloud had cleared enough for him to make out what was left. The weapon was certainly damaged, but it was still intact.

Optimus turned his attention to Quickstrike, who was picking himself up off the ground. The little fuzor looked up and saw that his enemies were still active and decided now was a good time to beat a hasty retreat. He broke into a sprint and headed in the direction of the Predacon base.

"Do we go after him?" Depth Charge asked.

"No, he's no threat to us now," Optimus replied. He opened a comm. channel to all units.

"Cheetor, are you all right?"

"Yeah, Silverbolt helped me find which way was up. I think I've taken some bad external damage though." Optimus could hear the pain in Cheetor's voice.

"Return to base. Silverbolt, you accompany him."

"Yes sir!"

Optimus changed his flight course from Quickstrike to the weapon and took aim. "Depth Charge, on my mark."

"Wait," the mantabot said.

Optimus slowed down to a halt and hovered while Depth Charge caught up with him. "What is it?"

"I think we should wait to see what happens with Myst and Rampage. I know you say this thing's a threat, but it might be our best chance of defending ourselves if Rampage wakes before Myst gets his spark," Depth Charge explained. He was itching to go down and do the job himself, but he knew Optimus wouldn't allow it and loath as he was to admit it, Myst did stand a better chance of getting it.

"You're right," Optimus agreed. "I say we fly down there, position ourselves out of sight but within firing range and keep watch on the situation. At least we might be able to hold him off and give Myst a chance to escape if that _does _happen."

Depth Charge conceded to that decision and both flyers made their way to land, a fair distance away from the assumedly unconscious psychopath. Rattrap and Myst were already closing in on his position.

* * *

Rattrap stopped only ten meters away from the huge transformer ahead of him. He dared not get any closer. Rampage didn't look half as damaged as Rattrap had hoped he was, which meant that he was self-repairing at a very rapid rate.

"This is your stop, missy," Rattrap told his passenger. Myst slid off his back and landed with a soft thud on her feet. She leaned on him for a moment, composing herself, and then took a few shaky steps forward. Rattrap watched as she made her way over to the crabbot slowly and cautiously. He rolled back on his wheels, quietly edging away. He'd seen Rampage at full power before. He'd been one of the bots desperately trying to hold him back from tearing the heads off of the scientists as he was taken to the liquefying room, where he was to be turned to a protoform and sealed in a pod. It was a memory Rattrap had forced to the back of his mind for many reasons.

Myst's legs gave way just as she reached Rampage's right side. She wasn't sure which side he'd have put the spark, but right was her first guess. She fell on her knees and muffled a pained exclamation. Just being off the life-support for five cycles was already taking its toll on her. Her entire body was aching. Her hands were trembling and her movements were jerky.

Her own spark was pulsing rapidly as the fear rose up inside. She had not feared Rampage like she did now. Before it was mainly wariness, and he'd sometimes made her feel uneasy in the way he'd looked at her. But now...

Now she knew the truth. Now she knew what Rampage could do. She had forced herself not to look properly at the butchered corpse just a few meters to her right. She didn't want to see what he had done to Megatron.

Steeling herself against the fear, she trailed her fingers along his right side, feeling for a compartment. He had pocketed it somewhere, but not in sub-space, as that would have been too easy for Megatron to snatch back during the struggle. He must have a secret storage compartment. It was a problem, because only he could open it. In-built compartments were controlled by a bot's internal computer and opened on command. Rattrap had provided her with a little drill that she was to use to burrow into the compartment. Right now she was feeling for any irregularities in his metal; a crack to indicate a small door.

She started from just under his arm and moved her fingers down slowly and carefully towards his hip. She was trying to be calm and steady, but the painful waves of energy threatened to make her jerk her hand. She stared down at him, looking at a bot she had once trusted, liked even. Myst wondered, if none of this had happened and she had remained his ally for a few weeks longer, if she would have even developed feelings for him. She had already felt safer with him than she had with anyone in a long time. She paused in her task and her optics dimmed as she wrestled with the surge of emotion inside her. Primus, she felt hurt! She felt betrayed! She felt sick and stupid for not seeing the signs earlier! How could she have allowed herself to become so attached to someone she didn't even know, so fast?

Allowing herself to experience the suppressed feelings of pain and guilt was the worst possible thing Myst could have done. It was the sudden intensity of emotion around him, and not her touch, that had woken Rampage.

Myst's optics relit dully and she started to feel along his side again. Her fingers ran over a groove and she paused. She looked at the area closely and sure enough, there was the barely-visible frame of a compartment door. With a trembling sigh of relief, Myst reached for the drill attached to her side with her left hand. As she brought it up again, Rampage's hand shot up in one swift movement and grabbed her wrist tightly. She let out a startled gasp and froze. His eyes were open and bright and he was staring at her intently. His grip on her fragile wrist was hard and menacing, but just loose enough not to be painful.

For a moment that seemed to last an eternity, Myst and Rampage stared at one another. For Myst, her fear mixed with anger and surprise. She didn't know what to do.

"What are you doing?" Rampage asked calmly, but the menace was there in his tone.

Myst swallowed hard and tried to steady herself. "I'm looking for your spark. I'm going to keep it for you until you find Tarantulas."

"Don't lie to me," he warned with controlled aggression.

"I'm not. I won't give it to the Maximals," she said as confidently as she could. Myst wasn't sure what would happen when she returned to base. More than likely, Optimus would demand he have the spark cage, and she was powerless to stop him. She was aware of that, and she knew Rampage was too. She _was_ lying to him, and she was pushing luck she wasn't certain she had anymore.

"He told you, didn't he?" Rampage asked. He didn't have to say who "he" was.

Myst's tense posture relaxed a little. The pain and tension were too much for her body to handle, and she was on the brink of fainting. She needed to relax, or she'd pass out.

"Yes, Rampage. He did."

Another long stare. Myst felt Rampage slowly increase the pressure around her wrist. "Rampage, don't," she pleaded, voice wavering.

Rampage stopped the action, stared at her a little longer, and released his grip entirely. Myst pulled back her hand slowly.

"Get back inside, Myst," he commanded quietly. "Get away from me."

Myst's face crumpled up into one of fury. "You slagging BRUTE!" she snapped suddenly. She punched him hard on the shoulder. "You slagging lied to me! You lied over and over and over and over--"

Rampage sat up and Myst toppled backwards. She landed on her rear and stared at him, aghast. The look of hatred and hurt returned to her face soon after.

"We both lied!" he snarled. "You lied to me just a moment ago. Do you think I believe for one second that you'd really keep my spark safe for me?"

"How COULD you, Rampage!" Myst nearly shrieked. "How could you--how could... How could you _kill_ all those bots so mercilessly?" her voice ended trembling.

Rampage didn't answer the question. He just looked at her and stayed still. After waiting for some response from him for a tense few moments, Myst finally gave up. She hefted herself up and stood on weak legs. She shot him one last look and made sure she expressed all the pain she felt at his betrayal on her face, before she turned and stumbled away. Rampage watched Rattrap emerge from behind a rock twenty feet away and cautiously approach her. She got onto his back and he drove off and out of sight.

Rampage stayed still for a few cycles, not thinking or feeling anything. He simply refused to. Instead, he went numb and waited for his spark to finish the last few repairs. When he felt all his strength had been restored, he got to his feet and turned around to face a few large boulders several hundred meters away.

"All right Depth Charge. Come out and do your worst! I dare you."

* * *

Optimus grabbed Depth Charge's arm roughly and pulled him back.

"Wait!"

Depth Charge wheeled on the Maximal leader and glared at him. "What's your problem, Primal! He's awake and active! We've got to stop him now. We can't let him get that weapon!"

"I get that, but rushing in headstrong isn't going to help. That's obviously what he wants you to do," Optimus said in a hushed voice.

"Then what's your suggestion?" Depth Charge sneered.

"I can see the weapon from here. I've got a clear shot. I'll destroy it before he can get to it."

"But we might need it!"

"I'm not willing to take the risk of going for it, being stopped somehow and then he gets it! Rampage is strong enough by himself as it is, but with that weapon he could take us ALL out," Optimus argued.

"Can you hold him off, Optimus? When he comes for us, can we hold our own against him?" Depth Charge pressed, his voice icy and frightening. "I SAW him take out an entire colony! Whole squads of security, gone in seconds flat! You don't know him like I do. It took me four _stellar cycles_ to catch him, and then I had the best weaponry and tracking equipment on my side. Here, we've got nothing - no means of bringing him to his knees."

Optimus looked Depth Charge straight in the eyes. "I'm three times his size and I've got good weaponry. With your help, that'll be enough until we figure out a more permanent way of dealing with him. But for Primus's sake, Depth Charge, don't give him the chance to---"

"Come on, Fins! What's taking you? Are you really that frightened of me now? Megatron was weak, you know. You're a much better fighter."

Rampage's taunt lit a fire in Depth Charge's eyes and he pulled free of Optimus's grip.

"Improvise," he growled, and stepped out and into view. He was several hundred meters away from Rampage, but both could see each other clearly.

Optimus cursed in annoyance. Depth Charge was such a hot head! And he was deliberately blocking his view of the weapon.

Depth Charge stood rigid, arms at his side, ready to draw his twin guns. He stared hatefully at the bot across from him. Rampage took a few cautious steps forward, but got no reaction from the mantabot. Depth Charge was not afraid; he was furious.

"Back to the drawing board, hey old friend?" Rampage jeered. "Once again I'm whole-of-spark and on the loose, able to wreak havoc and kill the ones you care about. Four stellar cycles of hunting me and it's been for nothing."

"I'm going to bring you down for good, X!" Depth Charge shouted across to him.

Rampage sniggered and raised his arms in an open gesture. "Come and get me then! What are you waiting for?"

Depth Charge shifted slightly on his feet, shooting a very brief glance at Optimus. He didn't want to move, because he knew Optimus would fire at the weapon. While Depth Charge felt capable of hunting Rampage without it, he knew that he didn't have four stellar cycles to bring him down this time. In the time it'd take to (possibly) apprehend him, Rampage could quite easily have massacred every living bot on this planet. He knew that the weapon, if repaired, was his best chance. It had taken Rampage out once, and it could do it again. Why couldn't Optimus see that? Was he that cowardly as to not risk trying to obtain it for himself?

"Why didn't you kill her, X?" Depth Charge asked, buying himself some time to think of a plan. He was also very curious to know the answer to his question. It still puzzled him that Rampage had left Myst alive for so long, and even tried to save her. There had to be some sick, underlying reason for it.

Rampage's arrogant stance wavered slightly. The question shouldn't have been surprising, but it did catch him off-guard. He couldn't afford to pause for too long though - that would break the atmosphere he was trying to create.

"She's going to die anyway," he said a little less harshly. Emotions were prickling at the core of him, but he refused to indulge in them. There was a degree of pain he still had to deal with in losing Myst.

"So you're going to let her suffer, then? Or are you seriously going to get back her power converter for her? What's this all about, Rampage?" Depth Charge used his enemy's name for once. He knew it would further unnerve him. Depth Charge was not blind to subtle changes in his adversary's behaviour when Myst was mentioned. There was something there that unsettled him, and he wanted to know what it was.

Rampage, meanwhile, was pondering. When Depth Charge had mentioned the power converter, something had clicked in his mind. His eyes wandered over to the discarded weapon a few yards away.

Myst had been attacked by Tarantulas the night Megatron was up late working on something. Then the following day, when he had returned to base for the meeting, he'd seen Tarantulas leaving with a crate of parts. It was then blatantly obvious they'd been working on the weapon together. Why else would Tarantulas have been around? The weapon was finished hours after Myst was raped of her power converter. Putting two and two together, Rampage finally realized what had happened.

The power converter was _in_ the weapon. It was its battery.

"Slag," he muttered under his breath. Depth Charge noticed the mouthed word.

"What was that? Speak, creep!" Depth Charge snarled.

Rampage turned back to looking at his archenemy. He regarded him thoughtfully. Should he voice his discovery and leave it to Depth Charge to take the weapon back to base and return Myst her converter? Could he trust him with that?

It was then Rampage had to decide what Myst really meant to him. She had given him an uneasy friendship when she had thought him to be someone he was not. Up until now, it had been impossible to judge how deep their relationship went for one another, because it had been based on a lie. Her reaction to the truth, however, had been surprising. Yes, he'd expected she'd be angry...but she was also hurt. While Rampage was not an expert on the complexities of emotions, he did know that to feel hurt at someone's betrayal meant that you had to have felt something _ for_ the betrayer.

_So she cares about you. Big deal._

It shouldn't matter to him that she cared, but somehow it did. And Rampage knew that because it mattered, he cared too. He cared about their friendship, he cared about being alone. Quite simply, he cared.

But he couldn't let the ray know that. Even though Depth Charge would find it difficult to believe in the first place. He had to play this game wisely. He had the beginnings of a plan and his distant gaze refocused on the angry bot in front of him.

"I don't need to get her anything," Rampage finally answered. "It's right here. The weapon you seek is powered by her missing part. So you have a choice now. Either you attempt to take the weapon, repair it and try to use it against me while Myst lies dying in your base which, I'd like to point out, wouldn't be very _Maximal _of you," he spat the word acidly. "Or you retrieve the weapon, wrench out the converter, repair**_ it_** and re-install it inside her, thus saving her from a very painful death."

Depth Charge absorbed the words and his frown deepened. There was a trick here. Rampage was just about to reveal his joker card.

"The interesting part is this," Rampage continued, to Depth Charge's immediate dread. "I, for obvious reasons, don't want you to go around using that weapon against me. It's a powerful piece of artillery, even for me. I do not, on the other hand, have any objections to you using the power converter therein to save her. It'd mean you couldn't use the weapon anymore, which is good for me. So to put it simply, if you pick option one, Myst and I both die. You pick option two, we live. Interesting dilemma, especially for _you_, Fins."

Game set. Depth Charge held back on cursing something colourful. Rampage had once again manipulated him. He had presented him with something of a Sophie's Choice. One was challenging his morals as a Maximal, the other challenging his greatest desire; the desire for justice.

Depth Charge also noted that Rampage had deliberately avoided referring to Myst in any emotional way. She was a bargaining chip in all this, and that in Depth Charge's mind revealed the crab's true colours: whatever the reason he'd kept her alive this long, it was obvious to him that Rampage didn't give a damn about her. This was for his own self-preservation. Rampage was incapable of love and friendship. Depth Charge almost laughed out loud at the fact that he had even _considered_ if it were possible for Rampage to feel.

Meanwhile, Optimus had been listening in on the conversation. He was going to interject earlier, but he had decided against it. He'd found Rampage's subtle taunting interesting to listen to. Until now, he hadn't really understood the relationship between Rampage and Depth Charge. For the first time, Optimus recognised Rampage not as a dangerous experiment on the loose, but as a bot of great intelligence with a knack for manipulation. And he was especially good at manipulating Depth Charge. So, he couldn't leave it up to the ex-guardian decide what to do by himself. Depth Charge was too unstable a person to make that kind of choice.

It was that moment that Optimus chose to intervene...

* * *

Rattrap entered the Ark in silence. Myst was clinging tightly to his back and had been trembling the whole journey. He hadn't spoken to her about it; he figured it was a mix of fear and pain.

Rhinox, Silverbolt and Blackarachnia looked at them, eyes wide and expectant. Cheetor was in the CR chamber repairing, Rattrap could tell by the gentle hum coming from the machine in the far right corner.

He sighed and shook his head. There was a soft groan from Rhinox and a sigh from Blackarachnia.

Rattrap stopped two meters away from the lab table and waited for Myst to get off. When she didn't, he jolted himself slightly. "Oi, you can get off now."

It was then he realized she'd been still for a time. She wasn't trembling so much, but at his request she'd stirred. Gradually, she slipped off his back and onto her knees and hands. Rattrap was now free to transform to robot mode, which he did.

He looked down at the weak femme at his feet. Myst stood up slowly and looked at him. "You---" she began, when suddenly her optics dimmed, her legs gave way and she collapsed to the floor.

"Uh oh!" Rhinox uttered and ran forward. He gathered her up in his arms and placed her on the lab table.

"Rattrap, switch back on the life support. Blackarachnia, fetch me the reviver."

"What's happened to her?" Rattrap asked as he headed for the life-support control panel.

"I think she's gone into stasis, but it might be worse," Rhinox muttered as he took a life-scanner from a side table. He waved it over her body once and got no readings.

"Slag it!" he exclaimed. "She's gone offline!"

* * *


	3. Mystery Solved Part 3

**Mystery Solved**

**By: **Sapphire (aka Malachite157)

Part Three

* * *

Optimus stood at full height and looked directly at Rampage. His presence had obviously been undetected previously by the empath, as a look of surprise came upon his face.

Depth Charge turned to give the Maximal a reproachful look. "What do you think you're doing!" the mantabot hissed.

"Making sure you don't do something you'll regret," Optimus answered under his breath. He spoke up so Rampage could hear.

"How do we know for sure the converter's in the weapon?" he demanded from the crab.

Rampage looked agitated, but his cool demeanour gradually returned. "It's obvious! Why else would Myst be raped of such a complex part?"

"Tarantulas did it. He could be using it for his own designs," Optimus pointed out.

Rampage scowled a little. "Well then I guess you'll just have to see for yourself."

Optimus glanced sidelong at Depth Charge. "Fetch it."

The raybot slowly turned and headed towards the weapon, knowing that Optimus would cover him. Rampage had virtually no doubt that the converter was powering the weapon and so he fixed his glare on Optimus, making sure he didn't make any hostile moves. While he may have been immortal, he was not indestructible, and Optimus was a formidable foe.

Depth Charge knelt by the smouldering gun. It was largely intact, but it was charred and damaged. Wisps of smoke wafted upwards from fissures in its metal. He touched it and drew back his hand quickly. It was still hot. He frowned at a sudden realization. He didn't really know what to look for. He wasn't entirely sure what a power converter looked like.

Before he could decide what to do, his and Optimus's comm. links crackled on.

"Rattrap ta Optimus! Can you talk right now?"

Optimus's hard stare on Rampage never wavered. "Yes, I've got things under control, for now." Rampage could hear the comm. link clearly and listened with interest.

"I brought Myst back, but she's gone offline! Big Green an' I are tryin' ta revive her, but she ain't responding."

Optimus groaned softly, not realizing the full significance of this new development. He failed to notice the flicker of panic and shock cross Rampage's face.

Optimus knew that this stand-off couldn't drag on any longer. "Hang on, we're coming." He closed the transmission and hollered to Depth Charge: "Is it there?"

Depth Charge frantically pawed at the ashy exterior of the weapon. "I-I don't know! I don't know what to look for!"

"Pah, it's there! Now make your choice!" Rampage snapped.

"Just bring it over, Depth Charge. We'll check in the base. If it's there, it's our best chance at rescuing Myst. If not..." he trailed, unwilling to finish his sentence. There was no point.

Depth Charge hefted up the burning hunk of metal and grimaced. It was scalding his arms and hands, but he didn't have a choice. He walked hurriedly over to Optimus, who took it and ignited his feet blasters. "Let's go. We'll be back for Rampage," he said coolly, making sure the threat in his voice could be heard by the crab. The mantabot transformed to flight mode and the two of them headed quickly to the Ark.

Rampage watched them disappear over the edge of the small canyon, trying to quell the flurry of panic he was feeling. Myst was offline. She could be dead within a few cycles. How long would it take them to re-install the converter, and was it too late?

"Ohhhhh..."

Rampage swivelled around at the noise. It took him a moment to realize it had come from the crumpled little heap that was Waspinator, a few yards away.

He was feeling edgy and anxious and hearing the groan of pain from the wasp-bot reminded him of what had happened. He'd killed Megatron, and he'd intended on doing more than just that, before he was interrupted.

He strode over to the twitching Predacon and looked down at him contemptuously.

Waspinator's bulging eyes always seemed open, but Rampage detected a faint change in brightness when his shadow fell over him. Waspinator let slip a small moan of terror and Rampage could sense the fear radiating from the small bot at his feet.

"What's the matter? You were always wisely cautious of me, but now you seem terrified. What's changed?" Rampage asked him causally.

Waspinator stared up at him, mandibles slack and eyes fixed wide. "Cr-crabbot killed..."

"Crabbot killed Megatron! Yes! You knew that would happen," Rampage stated.

Waspinator paused a few moments as he tried to formulate a sentence in his spinning head. "Crabbot going to kill Waspinator, too?" he finally managed. There was a hint of resignation in the wasp's voice which Rampage found mildly irritating.

"Crabbot is still deciding," Rampage replied a touch sardonically. Rampage didn't have any morals, but he was vaguely aware that he really shouldn't kill Waspinator after what the little guy had done for him. But, he was in a bad mood and Waspinator presented a small opportunity to blow off some steam.

"Is fuzor femme going to make it?" Waspinator asked suddenly. The question seemed strained, tired, as if the wasp had already decided his death was imminent, and this was just to fill in the gap before such time.

Rampage's gaze drifted slightly. "I don't know."

"Why?"

Rampage refocused on Waspinator, annoyance evident on his face. "What do you mean, 'why'?"

"Why doesn't crabbot know? Waspinator thought crabbot going to do something about it."

"What gave you that idea?" Rampage asked, his posture tensing and his body language becoming hostile. He had never mentioned to Waspinator that he intended on retrieving Myst's power converter. Rampage had wanted to do it partly to save Myst and partly because he wanted to kill Tarantulas in the most inventive, cruel way he could think of.

"Waspinator thought fuzor femme and crabbot friends," the wasp muttered, withdrawn.

Rampage nearly laughed at the statement. If he had, it would have sounded ugly and bitter. The bug's words did nothing to absolve his ill feelings at that moment and so he balled his hands into fists. "I've decided what to do with you, Waspinator."

Waspinator buzzed miserably.

* * *

Depth Charge was the first to enter the base. He transformed to robot mode and landed a meter from the lab table on which Myst lay, limp and unresponsive to the shocks of energy pulsing through her from the life support systems.

Optimus was beside him a moment later. The Maximal leader gave Myst a worried once-over and turned to Rhinox.

"Whoa, is dat da---" Rattrap started as he caught sight of the weapon, but Optimus cut him off. "Yes, and its battery is Myst's power converter. It's damaged, but it's what she needs," Optimus looked at Rhinox, who had paused in giving Myst manual chest repairs.

"Give it to me," he said, dropping his tools and taking the weapon from Optimus. He placed it on a side table and looked it over, while the Maximals crowded around him. Rhinox shook his head grimly. "It's possible I can fix it, but it'd take hours of careful rewiring and melding. It can't go back into her like this."

"But she won't last that long!" Silverbolt protested.

"I know that!" Rhinox snapped irritably. He shuffled over to her and took up his tools again. He dug his hand into her chest and started to repair a ruptured tube. "The energon's doing this to her. It's corrupting her entire systems, causing her wires to short-circuit and a few of her tubes to expand and crack due to the heat. She needs some energon in her system to survive, but even a small amount will cause terrible damage if it's not processed properly. I can't make her another converter, nor can I repair the one she had in time. I can try my best to bring her back for a few cycles, tops, but after that..." he paused in his work to look up at his fellow Maximals, "I'm afraid she's a goner."

Silverbolt slumped. He didn't know Myst, but somehow he felt sorry for her. It wasn't right for her to die. She hadn't caused anyone any harm, and he wouldn't wish Tarantulas on his worst enemy.

Rattrap had mixed feelings. He didn't like her one bit, but he admired her bravery and her determination. As for Optimus and Rhinox, they simply wanted to do the best they could for a fellow bot in need. Myst was not an enemy, even though she was Predacon.

Depth Charge, however, was angry. She had just walked into their lives, thrown a spanner in their works and caused all kinds of chaos. It was her dratted power converter that had powered Megatron's means of destroying them! She'd been nothing but trouble since she got here! Why should they care what happens to her? What had she ever done for them? And, she had chosen to befriend the sick maniac that he had hunted for years.

"Too bad," he uttered, and turned away.

Cheetor gaped. "What?"

He glanced over his shoulder balefully. "Well? There's nothing we can do for her. She's going to die anyway. We might as well repair the weapon as a whole so that we have something to use against Rampage later."

"How can you be so callous?" Cheetor erupted. "I know she's not one of us, but she's done nothing TO us, either. She deserves a second chance!"

Depth Charge turned sharply to face the catbot. "There is NO chance left for her! So why don't we leave her to die in peace? It's what she'd want."

"Be quiet, all of you!" Optimus ordered. The room went silent, save for the urgent bleeping coming from the life support systems. The computer punctuated the silence with: "Spark fading. Life expectancy: 5.3 cycles."

Optimus turned to Rhinox. "Is there _anything_ we can do to help her."

Rhinox frowned thoughtfully. "Well, when I first examined Myst I found that she had undergone partial repair treatment. Now, her converter was missing for some time when she was brought to us, but she was in a far better state than she should have been after so long without it. I'm wondering how that was possible."

Depth Charge looked at his feet. He felt something twist in his stomach at Rhinox's words. He hadn't told him about Rampage's healing ability, because he hadn't wanted to believe it. But now he heard it coming from the scientist's mouth, he realized that Rampage had to have told the truth. It also meant that the crabbot was Myst's only chance at survival now. What an ironic twist of fate...

The Maximals exchanged curious glances at the question. "Well, only she can tell us, so maybe if you try and bring her back for those few cycles..." Optimus suggested.

Rhinox nodded, but there was a look of defeat in his eyes already. Myst had such a short time left, the chances of his bringing her back in time were slim. Depth Charge noticed it.

_'If she dies, she'll be one more death on my conscience. If I don't tell them, I'll have to live with the fact that she could have made it if I had only allowed Rampage to...'_

Depth Charge felt sick at the thought of what he had to do to save this wretched femme's life. But his morals, his instinct as a guardian, a protector, won over his hatred and stubbornness.

"I know how she made it," he spoke up. He was under the intent gazes of every bot in the room. He sighed. "Rampage...Rampage used his spark's healing qualities on her. He repaired her."

"He did WHAT?" Rattrap uttered, completely taken by surprise. Blackarachnia and Rhinox were the only bots who weren't very surprised.

"It's possible, since Rampage is an empath and all he had to do was tune into HER pain," Blackarachnia explained.

"Yes, but we don't have time to ooh and ah over it, we need to make a decision on what to do with her before it's too late!" Rhinox cut to the chase.

"I tell you what we do," Depth Charge growled. "We put her crispy power converter BACK inside her, toss her outside for Rampage to deal with and he can repair both it and her at the same time."

Optimus was unable to suppress a smile at the ex-guardian's decision. He knew what Depth Charge was giving up, and that it hadn't been easy for him to do.

"You agree with that Optimus?" Rhinox asked, already moving to the weapon.

"Completely," the leader responded calmly.

"You sure it's a good idea ta give her BACK to dat crab? I mean, how do we know he's gonna, you know, look after her instead of tear her ta pieces like he did Megatron?" Rattrap wondered.

"It's possible she might die at his hands, but it's certain she'll die at ours if we keep her here," Rhinox replied and all but tore out the converter from the weapon. He inclined his head towards a blade on the side table. "Blackarachnia, make the incision."

"Lovely," she grumbled and took the energy blade. She cleanly cut Myst from her already open chest to her stomach. She pulled apart the sides and Rhinox inserted the converter into her body. "Spark fading. Life expectancy: 2.5 cycles," the computer droned.

"Let's move her!" Rhinox urged. "I'll take her," Depth Charge declared and gathered her up carefully. He wanted to see this for himself.

* * *

Rampage wiped his hands on a rock. The mech fluid had caked onto his hands and so he thought an abrasive surface might flake it off. He was still hovering around the Ark. He should have left by now, considering they now had a weapon that, once repaired, could take him down. Yet he felt drawn to the base. He wanted to know what became of Myst.

He noted Inferno was twitching slightly. He stopped cleaning his hands and stared at the antbot. He had forgotten about him.

"What should I do with you, I wonder?" he muttered absently. "Hmm... I'd rather like to...heh...buuuurn you alive. Slowly. Give you a taste of your own medicine." He smirked at a memory. He remembered dipping a scientist on Omicron into the tank of chemicals they'd concocted to drop onto his naked spark, to see how it reacted. It had reacted 'unpleasantly', but he had survived. The scientist might have survived too, had his chest not been torn open and his spark exposed.

He began making a move towards the ant when he heard the blast doors opening from a distance. He tensed. Slowly he turned around and waited to see what had emerged. A few moments later, Depth Charge flew up above the cliff line, Myst on his back. He jerked upwards and she went up into the air, he transformed to robot mode, landed on his feet and caught her neatly.

"She's limp as a doll," he told the crabbot. "Completely unarmed, vulnerable, helpless. But you know what? There's absolutely nothing we can do for her now. However, if I remember correctly, you healed her prior to bringing her to us."

Optimus and Silverbolt appeared on either side of Depth Charge and transformed to robot mode, landing a few paces behind him. They had their weapons ready.

Rampage watched Depth Charge closely, not bothering to hide his hatred towards the mantabot at that moment. He did not care for the arrogant haughtiness in his tone.

"That's true," he replied levelly.

"Well then, I leave her to your healer's touch," Depth Charge said as he knelt. He placed Myst's body on the ground and stepped back. He looked back at the crab expectantly.

"Spark in jeopardy. Life expectancy: 1 cycle."

Myst's body began to convulse violently and her spark pulsed rapidly in a last ditch effort to fight off the energon corruption. Rampage could feel its distress well.

He looked down at the dying bot and remained motionless. Depth Charge waited anxiously for him to do something.

"40 nano-clicks remaining."

Silverbolt glanced worriedly at Optimus, who shrugged lightly. This was one situation that was out of his hands. There was no point threatening Rampage to do it. If the crab refused, there was nothing they could do.

Depth Charge's nonchalance faded with the seconds of Myst's life. "Aren't you going to do anything?"

Rampage stared intently at her. He saw the slice from her torso to her tummy and it reminded him of the wound Tarantulas had inflicted on her the first time he'd attacked her. Tarantulas was responsible for all this.

A sudden, intense hatred rose up inside Rampage at the thought of the spider. It was enough to spur him into action.

"20 nano-clicks remaining."

He glanced up at the mantabot. "I suppose you want to watch?"

Depth Charge blinked at the question, then scowled. "I'll believe it when I see it," he stated.

Rampage moved forward and all three Maximals stepped back cautiously. He came up to Myst and dropped to his knees.

"I think you ought to know I'm getting awfully sick of repairing you like this, Myst," he told her, even though she was unconscious. He waited patiently for his chest plates to open.

"10 nano-clicks to termination."

"Don't be so hasty to leave, it's not over just yet," he breathed, acutely aware of the fascinated bots watching his every move.

His chest was open, and he placed his hands in her and onto her burnt power converter. The healing trail of energy wound down his arms.

"5. 4. 3."

The trail hit her shuddering body and it jerked an inch off the ground.

"2. 1."

There was a bright flash of light and Depth Charge and his fellow Maximals stumbled back in shock, raising hands to shield their eyes.

When they looked again, Myst was lying still in Rampage's arms, and the crabbot was looking calm. The healing trail was still going down his arms and into her.

"Spark stabilized," the computer informed.

Rampage looked up at his archenemy with child-like surprise. "That was close. Almost didn't make it."

Depth Charge stared in total wonder at the femmebot in the killer's grip. Her power converter was silver again, and he could actually see the wires re-attaching, the cracked tubes repairing and the slice on her stomach zipping up. The process was simply amazing.

"By Primus," Optimus muttered.

Rampage snorted in a mix of amusement and condescension. The entire situation was so absurd, but he found he was getting some pleasure from the shock of the bots in front of him, particularly Depth Charge. This must be playing havoc with his mind. X the healer! What a thought.

Myst's chest panels slowly began to close and her systems made a gentle whirring noise as stasis unlocked and she came back online. Her optics relit.

She cursed colourfully. Silverbolt blushed while Optimus raised an eye ridge.

Rampage looked down at her softly. "Welcome back, Myst."

Myst shifted uncomfortably. "Am I back for good?"

"You've got your missing equipment now, yes."

She stopped squirming and her eyes widened. "You...got it back for me?"

"Not me specifically. I found it. Rhinox gave it back to you."

Myst went still as she wrestled with her emotions. "But that wasn't enough, was it?"

"Obviously."

Depth Charge watched the two intently and found he was feeling ill. There was something horribly wrong with this scene. Rampage was cradling a worthless femmebot. One who he didn't need, who he didn't care about...

"You've done your job, now let her go," he growled suddenly.

Rampage's head snapped up and he engaged the mantabot in a stare. "What's the matter, Fins? Don't you trust me with her?"

"No, I don't trust you with anything. I don't know what your intentions are, but I think they have something to do with messing me around, confusing me, making me second guess you. It's not going to work. Now let her go, so I can see that you don't slaughter her at some later stage when you're tired of playing with her."

"Oh how typical of you," Rampage spat viciously. Myst elbowed him sharply. "Do as he says, Rampage. Let me go."

Rampage drew back his arms abruptly and Myst fell to the ground. She blurted an exclamation of pain and scowled up at him, before rolling onto her stomach and pushing herself up. She faced the Maximals.

"Thank you for what you've done. I ask that you leave me alone with Rampage. I have some things to tell him. I'll be rejoining you later, if you'll have me?"

Rampage was still on his knees, so he was eye-level with her. He looked at her sharply.

Optimus nodded slightly. "You're welcome to join us, but I don't advise staying with Rampage any longer."

"I'll be fine," she assured him.

Depth Charge shook his head with a look of wild disbelief. "Don't be an idiot, Myst."

"I'm allowed to be an idiot when I want," she said placidly. Depth Charge shot Optimus a desperate glance, but the leader merely shook his head.

"Let's go. It's her decision."

Silverbolt shrugged at Depth Charge with a look of genuine sympathy on his face. He could see how all this was addling and infuriating the ex-guardian. He turned with Optimus and left the cliffs. Depth Charge lingered a moment longer before finally giving in and leaving.

Myst turned around slowly to face her rescuer. Rampage was glaring at her. She folded her arms, trying to maintain a calm exterior when inside her spark was shuddering from the shock of near-death. She wasn't fooling him.

"A thank you would be nice," Rampage broke the silence.

"A thank you! You expect me to thank YOU? You lying, deceptive, homicidal psychopath!"

"Ooh, that hurt," Rampage sneered derisively. "Now suddenly you call me that, after what the Fish told you. It still doesn't change the fact that I RESCUED you. Again!"

"You don't have to remind me, Rampage! I remember each attack and each _rescue_ clearly, I assure you," she said hotly. An intense silence followed as the two locked eyes and stared at each other, emotions rising.

"So you're joining them, now, hmm? You've got what you wanted from me, I got what I wanted_ for_ me. Not exactly part of the original deal, but everything's settled now," Rampage finally said, a little softer and less viciously.

Myst's frown faded. "What are you going to do now?"

"What are YOU going to do? I asked for confirmation," Rampage pressed.

Myst sighed and looked away. Why was she having this conversation with him? Why had she stayed? She wasn't sure what she was hoping to gain from lingering with Rampage any longer. He was a killer, a monster...but he had saved her life all the same.

"I'm going to join the Maximals. It's obviously too dangerous for me to be wandering this world without a faction," she said, eyes still gazing out into the distance. She looked sad at her decision.

"You _caved_. You gave in to the one thing you swore you wouldn't be a part of," Rampage observed, knowing it would sting her. He got his intended result. Myst turned to him sharply, eyes ablaze.

"Don't talk to me like you know me! Because you don't! And I don't know YOU. So you can just keep your comments to yourself, and stay the hell away from me!"

Rampage stood up and Myst staggered backwards, alarmed at the sudden action. He towered above her, and his dark glower never left his face.

"You're right, Myst. I don't know you. You see, I thought you were different. Someone who didn't care for factions, for the conventions of society. You were supposedly an outcast, and so you wouldn't care if I were one too. I'm an outcast, Myst, not because I'm stupid or ugly or deformed... I'm an outcast because I choose to do what I like when I like, and that's gotten people in my way killed. So they label me a 'psychopath', 'unstable', 'dangerous'. But you claimed not to be a part of 'they', so I gave you a chance. I treated you as I'd want to be treated myself and for a short while, once you'd learnt to trust me, I got your acceptance. Who I was and what I'd done was irrelevant, as long as I was there for you when you needed me. An ally, a protector...who knows? Maybe even a friend."

Myst's anger intensified as he spoke but she also felt ill, guilty and miserable. What he was saying hurt her to her core. He was right and she...she wasn't sure where she stood anymore. When would she decide to stop weaving her way through life and choose a path? Who exactly was she? Up until now, she'd acted according to situation, but now that she was confronted with a life-changing choice, she wasn't sure what to do...because she had never stopped to think about it before.

The epiphany struck Myst full force and she froze on the spot, trying to decide what to do. The bot before her waited patiently, his glare a little softer as he realized the explosion of emotion coming from her.

"Just tell me one thing, Rampage," she said in a trembling whisper. Rampage made no sign to acknowledge her, opting to wait for her to continue.

"Did you enjoy killing all those bots? I mean, did it give you some sort of pleasure?" she eked out the words.

Rampage shifted his posture. He seemed to relax a little and his shoulders slumped. "Yes. I felt pleasure at others' fear and pain."

Myst's eyes closed and she struggled to maintain her composure. Slowly they half-opened and she looked at him.

"If it's any comfort to you, Myst, I never enjoyed your pain. Not for an instant," Rampage said gently. He meant it, too.

"No, Rampage, it's no comfort," she sighed quietly. "It doesn't change anything. The fact remains that you deceived me, and I fell for it. I fell for you. Why did you do it? Why did you prolong this?" she barely managed the question.

_"Why didn't you tell me!"_ was what she was basically saying. Rampage could detect the wild anger and frustration brewing beneath her words.

"I thought it didn't matter," he replied, his gaze on her steady and searching.

Myst's eyes closed again, she swallowed hard and breathed quick, deep breaths to try and calm herself. "How, Rampage, could it _not matter_?"

Rampage decided he'd had enough of this. Myst was alive, he'd seen to that and so he no longer needed to stay.

"I misjudged you, Myst. Forgive me. But now we part ways. You join your new faction and I...I'll go and do what I do best."

Myst's eyes flew open. "What?"

Rampage turned his hands palm-up and looked down at them. Myst followed his gaze and noted the dried mech fluid coating them.

"Primus, Rampage," she blurted and looked away, lips trembling as she fought back the sobs. She felt sick to her stomach.

"I knew you'd be upset if I murdered your little friend, Waspinator," Rampage said calmly. Myst turned to face him slowly, horror etched onto her face.

"So I just knocked him unconscious again when he woke up. He was hurt and afraid, so I put him out of his misery. That, and he was annoying me."

Myst let out a short, incredulous laugh and shook her head. "Go away, Rampage," she uttered, voice on the edge of breaking.

Rampage looked from his hands to her. His expression was mild and placid, but the regret and deep hurt just flickered momentarily in his eyes.

"As you wish." He paused a few seconds, transformed to tank mode, turned and rumbled off. Myst watched him leave until he'd gone over the hill and out of sight.

She resisted the overwhelming urge to sink to her knees and cry. It was all she wanted to do now, but she couldn't. She wouldn't allow herself to slip down that final notch. Instead, she checked the landscape around her and spotted Waspinator. She headed over to him, gathered him up in her arms, and proceeded to carry him to the Maximal base.

* * *


End file.
